Posts Tagged ‘prophetic’

Prophetic numbers ? Well sometimes I am sure that is the case some times just weird coincidences. Yesterday I had record number of views of my blog site. That number was 333 double what the record was and triple what the average per day is. What is unusual is that while I am typing this, the total is now 33,033 that is 7 – 3’s. Now remember yesterday was good friday. The top view was a blog I did back on 3/12/08 , it was called Nothing Fiction about Crucifixion. You can view it at https://riverflowsdown.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/nothing-fiction-about-crucifixion/

Tomorrow the world will celebrate, or at least think about what the church does every Sunday, or at lest should. That is the grave could not hold back Jesus from His destiny. Resurrection , our hope is for the same. But friday the dark day in which the followers of Jesus mourned, hid and were dazed and confused. That gives us hope today as our whole world is shaking. Without a personal faith in Jesus Christ including His suffering, death, burial, and literal Resurrection there is nothing lasting to hope for or in.

So what does that have to do with all the 3’s I guess not much just this. As I used to drive an 18 wheeler for a living and from time to time I would think hey am I still on the right road, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a sign. Just about then I would top a hill and there’s your sign yip, still on the right road. Some times we need little signs along the way just letting us know we’re heading the right direction.

Here’s YOUR SIGN the Big 3 love ya, They have a great plan for ya. Father , Son and Holy Spirit

Jeremiah 33:3

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

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How old was Jesus when He was crucified? 33

We do not know for sure the exact age of Jesus when He was crucified, but He was probably 33 years old. Here is the argument.

Jesus was baptized. But the reason He was baptized was to “fulfill all righteousness,” (Matt. 3:15). He had to fulfill the legal requirements for entering into the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Heb. 5:8-10; 6:20). Priests offered sacrifice to God on behalf of the people. Jesus became a sacrifice for our sin (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21) in His role as priest.

To be consecrated as a priest, Jesus had to be: 1) washed with water – baptism – (Lev. 8:6; Exodus 29:4, Matt. 3:16). 2) Anointed with oil – the Holy Spirit – (Lev. 8:12; Exodus 29:7; Matt. 3:16). Additionally, He may have needed to be 30 years old, Num. 4:3, “from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.”

Therefore we can conclude that Jesus began His earthly ministry at the age of 30. Since it went on for 3 1/2 years before Jesus was crucified, it is safe to say that He was 33 at the time of His death.

At the end of my commentary on this morning shaking’s you will find a copy of a news story by Matt Sepic. While reading his story He mentioned Mount Carmel ILL. as being near the quakes epicenter. He also mentioned Kingshighway bridge being temporarily closed due to the quake.

Mount Carmel and KINGSHIGHWAY “Kings High way” are both found in the Bible. Mount Carmel is found in 1 kings 18 and is known as the place where Elijah took on the 450 prophets of Baal and God showed up in power. Kings High Way is found in the Book of Numbers.

Numbers 20:17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

Numbers 21:22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.

The King’s Highway was an ancient trade route that began in Egypt, and stretched across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba and then northward to Damascus and the Euphrates River. One of the earliest references to the King’s Highway is where the Israelites requested a safe passage through Edom.

Both Mount Carmel and the King’s highway speak of not turning. One from the path set before them and the other to other god’s.

Call me crazy call me radical, this is just how my mind works. I tend to think black and white, right and wrong and sometimes I get carried away and see signs where there not. If that is what I am doing I am sorry. I know God is good and He does not DO evil. He does however use natural things to get our attention. Jesus used natural things to explain spiritual truths all the time and we call them parables. Endulge me if you can as I ramble on.

Back to Mount Carmel

1 kings18:21And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

The contest between Baal and the Lord God began and ended with fire.

1 kings 18:36-4036 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. 40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

As soon as Elijaha heard that jezebel was looking to kill him for killing Her prophets He ran and hid and wanted to die BUT the Lord showed up in chapter 19 and had a few things to say. He got the attention of Elijah and part of the process included an earthquake.

1 Kings 19:11-1311 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Mount Carmel seems to be known as the place where God personally partnered with man to remove compromise and idolatry. We are in such a place in America. I know that earthquakes are seen in the bible as a general sign of the end of the age.

Mark 13:88 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

This quake may be a little more. I was wondering what happened in America’s history on the 18th so I dug a little and found 5 things [good and bad]that caught my eye.

April 18, 1880 Deadliest tornado outbreak to strike Missouri:
8 tornadoes killed 152 people in portions of southwestern and central Missouri Deadliest single tornado to strike southwestern Missouri:
Marshfield, Mo. (Webster county)F-4 tornado
99 dead; 200 injured
(92 people were killed in Marshfield, 7 died in Springfield by the same tornado)

April 18, 1906 The birth of the modern Pentecostal movement is generally traced to an April 18, 1906, story in the Los Angeles Daily News whose front-page headline spoke of a “Weird Babel of Tongues” from a “New Sect of Fanatics” at a former livery stable at 312 Azusa St. in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, the Azusa Street revival had been building for some weeks before it broke into the public consciousness and spread across the nation’s religious landscape. Experts also place it in the context of the periodic revivals, or Great Awakenings, that historians have identified throughout in American history. In that sense, Pentecostalism grew out of the nationwide spiritual ferment at the end of the 19th century. The Azusa Street revival lasted for three years, until 1909

3.April 18, 1906 San Francisco was wrecked by a Great Earthquake at 5:13 a.m., and then destroyed by the seventh Great Fire that burned for four days. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of trapped persons died when South-of-Market tenements collapsed as the ground liquefied beneath them. Most of those buildings immediately caught fire, and trapped victims could not be rescued. Reevaluation of the 1906 data, during the 1980s, placed the total earthquake death toll at more than 3,000 from all causes. Damage was estimated at $500,000,000 in 1906 dollars.

4. April 18 1988 U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in retaliation for the April 14 mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. The one-day action is the world’s largest naval battle since World War II.

5. April 18 2007 The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2003, was upheld by the Supreme Court on April 18, 2007 by a 5-4 vote in the consolidated cases of Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood. The court indicated that its ruling about specific abortion procedures, known as D&E, did not overturn previous rulings, including Roe v. Wade.

Well some interesting things happened on April 18 th. So what was scheduled to happen today April 18 th 2008? Well the one the whole world watches is this.

April 18 (Bloomberg) — Pope Benedict XVI, who angered Jewish groups this year when he revised a Good Friday prayer to include a call for Jews to recognize Jesus, will make the first trip by a pontiff to a U.S. synagogue today in New York. Benedict, who addressed the United Nations this morning, is scheduled to make a 20-minute visit to the Park East Synagogueon Manhattan’s Upper East Side at 5 p.m. The synagogue is led by Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a native of Austria who lived under Nazi occupation in Budapest during World War II. The visit comes the day before the Jewish holiday ofPassover.

Passover tomorrow, how could that be Easter was a month ago and that is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus which happened just a few days AFTER passover. So what happened well its called compromise with paganism. Well there are many things in the church that were picked up in the dark ages. Many have been tossed aside during the reformation but many have not.

Jesus is our passover lamb we have forgotten that. God deals with nations we have forgotten that. One day soon we will cry out as a Nation to God not knowing why He has left us. Then we will remember It is not God who left, but U.S. As the shaking continues let us humble ourselves and pray and turn from our wicked ways, AND THEN…….

The blood of 50 million babies crying out from the ground, God is longsuffering, but I think He is soon to speak and it will be louder than 5.2. There is nothing louder than silence. Choose the still small voice!!!

January 13th early in the morning my wife Dianna woke me up and told me “you sure are sleeping loud” I knew it was true I had been dreaming I was back in Africa and I had been dropped into the middle of devastation. I was working to get orphans into homes. It was overwhelming, one minute I was in Africa the next I would be back in Missouri. Then the dream slowed down into slow motion. I had been trying to get someone to explain to me what had brought about such devastation in Africa and how I ended up in the middle of it all.

There it was the longest train I had ever seen, it was a old coal burning train. It was pulling passenger cars and on each car was written Show Me Orphan Train. In the windows were little faces pressed against the glass. At this point I am crying looking into the faces of desperation to be loved, it was overwhelming. In the dream Linda a 20 year old Ugandan girl that is living with us while going to college pointed at the children and said “John it’s about them” I woke immediately with all kinds of emotions.

I thought about the meeting I have today with my friends from Alma Missouri introducing them to Gizaw my friend from Ethiopia who will be talking to us about the need for orphanages in Ethiopia. I thought about our friends John and Sharon who minister in Kenya that had just been at the house talking about the conditions there. I thought about my own experiences in Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia.

Then I thought about a teaching that Regina Shank does on overcoming rejection and She tell’s stories about the orphan trains that would move from the east coast to the Midwest dropping off children to waiting families. Of course there are some bad stories about abuse and using the kids as slave labor. As a whole the Midwest provided homes, I myself have a great grandmother who was an orphan and was taken in to a wonderful family in Beatrice Nebraska.

Here is an advertisement below that appeared in the Troy Free Press Feb 11, 1910. Troy is in Lincoln County.

WantedHOMES for CHILDREN

A company of homeless children from the East will arrive atTROY, MO., ON FRIDAY, FEB. 25th, 1910

These children are of various ages and of both sexes, having been thrown friendless upon the world. They come under the auspices of the Children’s Aid Society of New York. They are well disciplined, having come from the various orphanages. The citizens of this community are asked to assist the agent in finding good homes for them. Persons taking these children must be recommended by the local committee. They must treat the children in every way as a member of the family, sending them to school, church, Sabbath school and properly clothe them until they are 17 years old. The following well-known citizens have agreed to act as local committee to aid the agents in securing homes:O. H. AVERY E. B. WOOLFOLK H. F. CHILDERS
WM. YOUNG G. W. COLBERTApplications must be made to, and endorsed by, the local committee.

An address will be made by the agent. Come and see the children and hear the address. Distribution will take place at theOpera House, Friday, Feb. 25, at 1:30 p.m.

Once I had a darling mother, though I can’t recall her name
I had a baby brother who I’ll never see again
For the Children’s Home is sending us out on the Orphan Train
To try to find someone to take us in

cho: Take us in, we have rode the Orphan Train
Take us in, we need a home, we need a name
Take us in, oh won’t you be our kin
We are looking for someone to take us in

I have stolen from the poorbox, I’ve begged the city streets
I’ve swabbed the bars and poolrooms for a little bite to eat
In my daddy’s old green jacket and these rags upon my feet
I’ve been looking for someone to take me in

The Children’s Home they gathered us, me and all the rest
They taught us to sit quietly until the food was blest
Then they put us on the Orphan Train and sent us way out West
To try to find someone to take us in.

The farmers and their families they came from miles around
We lined up on the platform of the station in each town
And one by one we parted like some living lost-and-found
And one by one we all were taken in

Now there’s many a fine doctor or a teacher in your school
There’s many a good preacher who can teach the Golden Rule
Who started out an orphan sleeping in the freezing rain
Whose life began out on the Orphan Train.

Well I have to get going and get ready for Church, I just wanted to get the dream down before I forgot it. I hope it will stir you up to pray for those all over the world that have no place to call home and no one to call family. They need to know they have a father who has declared so from heaven. Some times we need to be reminded as the church we are His hands and Feet and more than that we are His Family with open arms and open eyes.

Psalms 68:4-6 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds– his name is the Lord– and rejoice before him. 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, and at the same time He was a man’s Man. During His 33 years on the planet He created He related to real every day people and knew how to get to Them. My favorite hook He used was that of the fisherman. Jesus was calling these rough young fisherman to be become His disciples and He caught them with a word picture they could understand “I will make you fishers of Men”.

Mark 1:14-18, 14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

Let me tell you how Jesus hooked me the same way. It started back with John William Gross my grandfather who by trade was a lineman for Kansas city power and light but at heart He was a river rat. From the time I could cast my zebco 33 grandpa went to work teaching me how to tie a knot that wouldn’t break and how to take a hook out of the fishes mouth without getting stuck. Above all He gave me time and attention.

Years later as an adult I was in the back yard working in the garden when our neighbor Denver Stark ventured over and said “the Flathead are moving up grand river”. I told Him I had never fished for Flathead and asked Him if He could teach me how. He did and that lead to the greatest summer of fishing I have ever experienced.

My wife’s cousin Jeff Arnold and I took His canoe up the river with a 5 gallon bucket of live bait fish and limb lines that we tie off on good green limbs. We set our lines and went to make camp. We had just started a fire when we heard what sounded like a deer crossing the river. As we watching the bank up river about 50 yards no deer came in sight. The splashing continued and we thought oh no that poor deer got tangled in our line. We jumped in the canoe and paddled away. It was just getting dark and the green limb was under water. I leaned over the side and found the line and lifted it up slowly and then the hardest jerk you can imagine sent my heart into fast mode. I reached for the dip net and 20 minutes later Jeff and I wrestled the Big Cat Fish in the boat. Here is the picture of me with my first of many big cat’s.

Not to far in time from this picture God hooked me. I had been a Christian for about 10 years. I was working with the youth, doing a lot of prayer, writing music, doing jail ministry you know normal Christianity. I had just read a book that had challenged me to ask the Lord if I had any hidden sin issues so deep that I had even hid them from myself. Nothing happened for several weeks then it happened. My wife Dianna had me sit down and told me to brace myself. I was not braced enough. She told me that Her best friend at the time Karen had married my arch enemy Kevin. Karen was a Christian He was not, and She had asked Dianna if I could befriend Him hoping to get Him into church. Dianna had explained there was bad blood between us and that might not be good. I went off, yelling and screaming, then I remembered what I had prayed and could not believe I had so much bitterness built up inside. Even after much prayer and repentance it took two weeks for me to agree to meet with Kevin. We had a meal together, and we both felt uneasy but worked hard, mostly to make the wives happy. We eventually became friends and Kevin starting to come with us to Church and about 6 months later during an alter call He went up. My good friend Steve Lovelace and I prayed with Kevin as He asked Jesus to forgive Him of His sin and asked Him to come into His heart. There was a massive change in lifestyle and we were all so happy. Several weeks later Kevin was killed in a head on collision by an oncoming truck.

You have no idea how glad I am that I asked the Lord to reveal any hidden sin like unforgiveness. I am so glad the Lord was and is faithful and longsuffering. If we want to catch the big fish we MUST lay our nets down and follow Jesus. What an adventure ahead, Happy Fishing.

I have been a student of Church history for some time. I, like many others have noticed a parallel between natural Israel and the Church in the last 100 years. I may not be able to prove this by multiple scriptural texts however there is shown below the idea that Adam was the first natural man and the spiritual man came later, Jesus / Yeshua / יֵשׁוּעַ

In similar fashion Israel was the natural bride of the Lord and the church being grafted in becomes the spiritual bride.

1 Cor 15:45-48 ,45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

We know that after the destruction of the temple in 70 ad that both the Jews and the church was hunted and persecuted. The dark ages took it toll on both true followers of Jesus and the Jews. After the dark ages came the reformation, and understanding of justification by faith was reintroduced to The church. Layer after layer of truth was rediscovered by the church. At the same time the idea was forming in the hearts of Jewish people to return to their homeland of Israel.

At this point I will loose you if you are a cessationist that is ““the belief that the miraculous gifts such as healing, tongues, prophetic revelation, and supernatural knowledge pertained to the apostolic era only, served a purpose that was unique to the era before the New Testament was complete, and passed from use before the canon of Scripture was closed.”

I believe the gifts are still for today and should be used in accordance with scripture. With this view in mind Theodor (Binyamin Ze’ev) Herzl founded the Zionist political movement which 50 years later led to return of the Jews to their land Israel. At about the same time revival broke out in Wales and America with pentecostal expression which eventually became corrupt in some cases. Great endeavors to take the gospel to the ends of the earth flowed out of this movement

In 1948 Israel became a nation as Jew’s returned home after 2000 years of exile. At the same time another revival broke out in Canada and spread through out the US and abroad. This movement too became defiled after several years and many distanced themselves from it but not before great advancement was made with taking the Gospel to the four corners of the earth.

In 1967 Israel in the 6 day war expands it territory. At the same time the Jesus People Movement began in 1967 .

Monday, Jun. 21, 1971 : Time “The Jesus Revolution” Quote ;Not so, however, for the vast majority in the Jesus movement. If any one mark clearly identifies them it is their total belief in an awesome, supernatural Jesus Christ, not just a marvelous man who lived 2,000 years ago but a living God who is both Saviour and Judge, the ruler of their destinies. Their lives revolve around the necessity for an intense personal relationship with that Jesus, and the belief that such a relationship should condition every human life. They act as if divine intervention guides their every movement and can be counted on to solve every problem.

1973 Israel in the Yom Kippur War after being attacked overcame and ended up extending her borders to all of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. At the same time the Charismatic Movement began with Dennis Bennett in Van Nuys, California.

Here we are 2008 the 60 year anniversary of Israel is coming up in May. American President George Bush today January 10th 2008 has called for Israel to return to the pre 1967 war territory / bounderies.

In my recent blog https://riverflowsdown.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/israel-its-borders-should-not-shrink/ I have listed the scriptural evidence for Israel’s borders and warned we must not take part in changing God’s plan. The writing is on the wall, if we force Israel to go down this path, and a peace treaty is signed in May around the 60 year anniversary it will parallel what will happen in the church. We will loose ground if we don’t cry out for mercy. It seems many of the prophetic voices I have respected for years have gone silent about these issues seeing they have made a covenant with the Republican party and have closed their eyes to God’s standard. I am a conservative republican because of the pro-life platform but the buck stops here for me. I will continue to pray for our leader’s of course, but I will not pretend wrong is right.

It is high time to to cry out for Israel and the Jewish People and that G W hears and listens to Godly counsel. There will be no lasting peace in the middle east outside of the prince of peace Jesus / Yeshua / יֵשׁוּעַ

As Christians we know that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but what about the borders of the Nation of Israel. We in America certainly have a history of getting involved in things that are questionable. What is questionable is putting pressure on Israel to give up it’s God given borders, it’s just wrong. I strongly believe America has been blessed for our strong relationship with Israel, and helping bring peace is a good thing. However we need to keep our hands off, when it comes to what God has declared, or His wrath could be released. Below I have listed a few verses about Israel’s borders given to Abraham Issac and Jacob. Join with me praying for the Jewish people to have peace including knowing the prince of peace Jesus / Yeshua / יֵשׁוּעַ. Praying also that our presidential visit to Israel does not violate the will of God…….

God gave this land to Abraham and His descendants

Gen 20:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Issac inherits

Gen 26:1-3 1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

Jacob gets the same promise for all Israel with expansionGen 28:10-15 10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Numbers 34:3-12, 3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: 4 And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: 5
And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. :6 And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border. :7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor.: 8 From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad. : 9 And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border. :10 And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: 11 And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: 12 And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.

Here is a recent link to a blog I did on the issue of Boundaries including Israel’s.

Let me introduce to you Susie Jones. I was introduced to Her by my Friend Joanne Norton. Susie has great insight for and about the body of Christ. After taking an honest look at the church, world wide we would have to say it is sick and weak and I would add paralyzed. As you read Susie’s life experiences below, I would challenge you to be part of seeing the body of Christ healed by asking Jesus to once again be the head and respond as He leads.

What are the chances?! I was 22, 2 days shy of my 2nd wedding anniversary and 3 months pregnant. Suddenly the bottom fell out. Car accident, spinal cord injury, paralyzed from the chest down. Bummer! Major, major bummer. But, the good news is, I knew the God that answers prayer. Unfortunately, I didn’t know Him very well. Fortunately, He knew me extremely well … as in, “For it was you who formed my inward parts.” And He wanted me to know Him well. Lots to learn, lots and lots to learn. And I have, and I will continue to do so. Learn that is. But it isn’t always easy.

You’re more than likely familiar with 1 Cor. 12:25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, 26 the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. My body serves well as an object lesson for that verse. My head and arms are still very much intact. But it takes the whole of the body, working together, to achieve maximum health and well-being. What happens when the whole becomes the fraction? Think 2/3 paralyzed; 1/3 not. Well, at times, chaos reigns.

The head (brain) continues to send signals to the entire body. But the message is short-circuited. It is either garbled or doesn’t get through at all. Surface feeling is lost, and you are no longer aware of those things that would threaten to bring harm to your body. The cat may scratch; you’re not aware. You stay in one position too long and the blood supply is cut off and sores develop; you’re not aware. Bones that don’t meet resistance become porous and weak. Muscles in one part of the body overcompensate for muscles that are no longer functional. One becomes taxed; the other becomes atrophied. There are times when my body is at war with itself. The very organs that are designed to eliminate the bad, the toxic, the waste become an “aider and abettor” … a harbinger of “germ warfare.” The antibiotics you take to heal, kill off both the bad and the good bacteria, and super bugs develop. Soon you are robbing Peter to pay Paul and a cycle develops in which the body may eventually succumb to the “miracles of modern medicine.” No, it doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process. For me, a 40-year process. But then, there is God. That is also a process. A process of learning to trust. A process of learning the ways of a God that delivers, a God that is faithful, a God that heals, a God that walks you through the valley of the shadow when you aren’t even aware that He is present. You’d like a burning bush. It’s more likely to be a still, small voice. There are times when you feel utterly forsaken and you think you’re alone, but you’re not. There are times when you despair of life itself only to discover that He is life, life unlike any other. And there is grace, grace beyond all that you could ask or think or begin to imagine. And there is always his standing invitation, “Come unto Me.”

But hold on a minute. Let’s consider the body of Christ. We like to refer to it as the church. What happens when that body is cut off from the head which is Christ Jesus? What happens when communication is either not received or it is not received correctly? The body no longer feels the pain of its other members, the more “uncomely parts.” Wounds develop that aren’t immediately visible, and they rot inwardly until they become visible outwardly. [Think pressure sores … interesting, the word pressure. Whether external or internal the wound is real.] Those same wounds have to be daily debrid and packed to insure that a surface healing doesn’t occur and leave the deeper wound festering inside. What happens when all the body’s members don’t work together to insure wholeness, and one part can’t fulfill its function and the other part becomes dominant and eventually suffers due to excessiveness? What happens to that body when “sin lurks at the door,” and it is not dealt with in a timely manner? When the “blood” supply is cut off? Well, let’s go back to I Cor 12:14b-24. The Message Bible makes it fairly clear. 14b A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. 15 If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? 16 If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? 17 If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? 18 As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. 19 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. 20 What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. 21 Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? 22 As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way – the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. 23 When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. 24 If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

At age 22, I may have opted for full-bodied hair. But I am older now and hopefully wiser. And good digestion is a good thing – a very good thing, both physically and spiritually. Else how would we digest the “meat,” Paul talks about? The meat of the word. The meat of daily prayer and communing with the Lord. Strong meat.

We are given a commission. We are told in the gospels to go into the world and “preach the gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons ….” A fairly straightforward commission. A simple enough plan. Until we have tweaked the gospel to the point where it is so politically correct that the power, the passion, the life, the salt and the light are not only indistinguishable, they are completely gone. And yes! The blood. The blood without which the natural body has no life. The Blood without which the church body has no life. The shed blood. Let’s remember the message of Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

It takes a body that is totally dependent on receiving clear communication from the head. It takes a body in which none of the members are cut off from the blood. “This is my blood, shed for you.” Jesus gives the clear command. “Go, and preach the gospel*.

*Mark 16:15-18 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”